With a quaint voice, akin to
Squeeze
's
Chris Difford
and
the Beautiful South
Paul Heaton
,
Andrew Sandoval
's plaintive songs sweetly retell stories of the ups and downs of everyday life. The major problem with this album is the song structures, which for the main part are very average. Even though the accompaniment is supplied by some of the greatest names in the pop industry, including
Jon Brion
Ric Menk
, and
Peter Holsapple
, and arrangements from noted TV and film composer
Roger Neill
(
Air
/
Mike Post
), the standard nature of the songs cannot be hidden. There is no disputing that the lavish arrangements featuring everything from harpsichords to harmoniums, cellos to Chamberlins, to jangling guitars and psychedelic effects is most beautiful, but when put up against the modern pop charms of
the Wondermints
, it becomes apparent that
Andrew
lacks something. However exquisite the instrumentation may be, the majority of the songs just don't stick. That's not to say though that this Baroque/pop effort is without charm, and that fans of finely crafted pop in
the Beach Boys
Zombies
mold will be disappointed. It's just that it isn't anything more than pretty. ~ Jon "Mojo" Mills